Eric Reid. Is Amani Hooker the right fit?"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Keep Sounding PodcastPanthers 2019 NFL DraftCSR Film RoomCarolina Panthers Film RoomPanthers 2019 NFL DraftFilm room scouting report on Iowa safety Amani HookerNew Terry Godwin Carolina Panthers Jersey ,37commentsThe Panthers need a free safety to pair with Eric Reid. Is Amani Hooker the right fit?EDTShareTweetShareShareFilm room scouting report on Iowa safety Amani HookerJeffrey Becker-USA TODAY SportsAmani Hooker played his high school football in Minneapolis, Minn. at Park Center High. Hooker was a three-star recruit and chose the Iowa Hawkeyes over Minnesota, Northern Iowa, and Wisconsin according to Rivals. During his three years in Iowa City, Hooker finished with six interceptions, nine pass breakups, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, and one sack.Hooker is an elite athlete. He posted a 1.0 sigma Blue Terry Godwin Jersey , which landed him in the 84.5th percentile according to SPARQ.Film reviewHooker is not a scheme dependent safety. He played a variety of roles for Iowa’s defense in 2018. He matched up in man coverage against backs, receivers, and tight ends. He rotated into the box to monitor the short and intermediate areas. He also played deep safety as he patrolled the third or half of the field. Hooker is much more comfortable as a deep safety in a two safety shell (Cover 2/4). He is a smart player who reads route tendencies and also displays the range to cover ground.Hooker starts as a deep half safety. He gets into his backpedal, but he picks up on the corner route when the receiver sticks his foot on the ground. Hooker stays light on his feet, but then explodes to get in front of the receiver and pick off the quarterback.Hooker rotated as a nickel corner for the Hawkeyes too. He matches in man coverage versus highly rated wide receiver Hakeem Butler. Butler is a physical receiver, but Hooker also shows his physical nature by getting hands on him to disrupt the release. He doesn’t flip or change directions fluidly when in man coverage, but if a defense wants him to man up in the red zone Hooker is the guy.Hooker matches with the receiver in the slot after the motion. As mentioned above, he struggles to flip his hips and change direction. Iowa asked him to play inside leverage based on his positioning Terry Godwin Carolina Panthers Jersey , but the receiver still exposes him with a sharp cut. Fortunately, it wasn’t taken advantage of, but this is an area where Hooker has to improve. Hooker is an excellent reader of the game. He has high level instincts when he’s lined up in the box, deep, or at nickel. He reads the intentions of the quarterback before locating the route and cleanly tackling the opponent. Hooker has a good understanding of zone coverage, which allows him to make these quick decisions.Hooker did not impress as a run defender in the four games I watched. He is an aggressive player, but he consistently rook poor angles as he pursued the running back. His metrics as a tackler were not terrible, but he needs to play with more poise in run defense. He only had a 6.5% broken tackle percentage Youth Terry Godwin Jersey , which means many of the players he got hands on didn’t escape. His tackling form is fine, but he has to improve his pursuit angles.The good news is that pass defense is more important than run defense in today’s NFL, but coaches are still not going to enjoy the poor angles. Fit with CarolinaThe Panthers have a reliable box and run safety in Eric Reid. Hooker would add an element for their defense that they haven’t had in a while. His range, instincts, and zone awareness make him a perfect piece for Carolina’s defense. Rivera employs a diverse set of coverages, but Hooker proved that he can match up with receivers in man coverage. His best work comes in zone as a deep half safety. He could rotate into the box to disguise coverages too. The Panthers should strongly consider Hooker if he’s on the board in the second round. With 20 receptions in the first two games we were already talking about running back Christian McCaffrey chances of breaking some kind of receptions record in 2018. The Bengals defensive coordinator certainly had to make it a focus of the defensive game plan; protect the edges and the flat in response to the Panthers’ propensity to run or pass to McCaffrey in those directions.New Panthers offensive coordinator Norv Turner made all that planning for naught. Instead Turner ran McCaffrey between the tackles to the tune of 184 yards on 28 carries, a whopping 6.6 yards per carry. If you were like me, as the game wore on in the second half you probably thought “well now Newton will start to throw to McCaffrey in the flat”. Nope Blue Michael Palardy Jersey , it never happened. McCaffrey only caught two passes for 10 yards on the day, a huge departure from what the Panthers offense did in Weeks 1 and 2. The result of this effort is the Panthers lead the NFL in averaging 166 yards per game. That is Ron Rivera football right there.Let me throw some additional credit where it’s due. The patchwork offensive line did a great job of run blocking in this game. Also huge props to McCaffrey for his tough, tackle-breaking running. I read somewhere he averaged almost three additional yards after contact and had eight or 10 broken tackles. Can we please now stop with the ‘McCaffrey can’t run between the tackles’ narrative? He blew that up this past Sunday.On a related note here’s a graphic on McCaffrey’s directional success:Another reason I find the game plan genius is it took the pressure off the aforementioned patchwork line. With three starters out of the game the Panthers needed to avoid forcing Newton to stand in the pocket and win the game with his arm. Running the ball between the tackles did just that. The fact Newton was under a lot of pressure when he dropped back to pass supports this notion. Here are the PFF grades for the Panthers’ three fill-in starters on the offensive line:I should add that right tackle Taylor Moton was the Panthers’ top graded player on offense and even made the All Offense Team for PFF this week. I imagine Turner looked at this group of fill-ins and realized we had to run the ball in order to win this game. That turned out to be an advantage since it was the opposite of the Panthers’ film from the first two games. Advantage Panthers.I could get used to this whole ‘out game planning the competition’ stuff.